10:40 a.m. update: Oklahoma City police have made an arrest following Thursday's shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City.

Elizha Sanders, 24, was arrested in connection with the incident, said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Larry Withrow.

Sanders and the victim have had "prior issues" and began exchanging words after running into each other at Foot Locker inside Penn Square Mall, police wrote in an affidavitrequesting his arrest.

The two then began fighting, police told a judge.

After the fight was over, Sanders reached into his pants, got a gun, pointed it at the victim and then shot the victim, police wrote.

"After the victim was shot he fell and began crawling out of the store. Sanders pursued the victim continuing to shoot at him. The victim was struck at least two times," according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Sanders is currently on probation for obstructing an officer in 2018.

He pleaded guilty to the offense in September in Payne County District Court in Stillwater. Prosecutors dropped a domestic abuse count against him on the same day.

Stay close to Oklahoman.com as more information becomes available.

Original story:

A fight that ended in gunfire at Penn Square Mall sparked chaos Thursday afternoon among holiday shoppers, a crowd that included members of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Oklahoma City police responded about 3:55 p.m. to reports of a fight between two black males inside Foot Locker on the second floor. One shot the other in the chest, a spokesman said. The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Police reviewed surveillance video as officers searched the shopping center for the shooter, the spokesman said. The gunman was described as shirtless and wearing grey sweatpants with red underwear visible above the waistband. Police said he was seen putting a shirt on and leaving one of the south entrances of the mall. He was not in custody Thursday evening.

The shooting prompted holiday shoppers to flee and take cover in stores, closets and restrooms. Emergency officials responded in force to the mall and closed some nearby streets and an adjacent highway exit.

Sidney Schumacher, her two small children and her mother were sitting at a table in the food court when she heard gunfire.

"It wasn't until people started scattering and saying 'shooter' that I said 'someone has a gun,'" she told The Oklahoman. "There's so much adrenaline running through your body. I was scared. I was just frantic, trying to get my son out of his stroller."

In the commotion to run away from the sound of gunfire, Schumacher lost her son's shoes and her purse, which held her car keys and cellphone.

Husband Wes Schumacher rushed to the mall from Edmond after answering a call from a phone number he didn't recognize. It was his wife. She borrowed a phone to call and let him know the four of them were safe.

Thunder players were attending a private movie screening when the shooting occurred.

A team spokesman issued the following statement: "Thunder security was made aware immediately. The team was never in danger and was safe during the entirety of the event."

The mall was closed for the night, but police cleared scores of people from buildings hours after the shooting as they continued to search for the shooter. Some mall workers were allowed to return to the building after police finished searching around 8:30 to close up stores or retrieve their belongings.

Amari Lafevers, 19, a JC Penney employee, was working in the store at the time of the shooting.

"I was checking someone out and people just started running, saying, 'Shots fired! Shots fired!'" she said. "You know it’s kind of surreal because you don’t really know what to do in that moment. It’s just, you don’t really think it will happen to you until it does."

The employee was reunited with her mother, Kim Lafevers, at about 5:45 p.m. The two embraced outside a police perimeter about 200 yards from the store. Nearby, other family members waited anxiously for loved ones — whether employees or shoppers — to be released by police.

"I'm very relieved," Kim Lafevers said. "I knew she was OK because I talked to her from the beginning. It's still, the thought of 'what if?' What if the person is in her store and they don't know it? I'm really very happy to see her."

Guests who left personal belongings can call guest services at the mall on Friday at 405-841-2696 to arrange pickup.

Sanders Penn Square Mall [The Oklahoman file] Police respond to a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. [Joey Stipek/The Oklahoman] Bystanders who were in the mall at the time of the shooting embrace after evacuating to the parking lot at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The Oklahoman Sena Franklin shows text messages from her son's girlfriend who was hiding inside Penn Square Mall after a shooting Thursday afternoon in Oklahoma City. [Nick Oxford, for The Oklahoman] Bystanders who were in the mall at the time of the shooting embrace after evacuating to the parking lot. [Nick Oxford, for The Oklahoman] Police and fire department vehicles are scattered around the south side of Penn Square Mall on Thursday after a shooting in the mall. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman] People leave the south side of Penn Square Mall after being evacuated following a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People leave the south side of Penn Square Mall after being evacuated following a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People leave the south side of Penn Square Mall after a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Santa Claus waits on the south side of Penn Square Mall with others who were evacuated after a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma City Police block Northwest Expressway at Penn Ave. after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People stand on the south side of Penn Square Mall as the sun sets after a shooting at the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Law enforcement works the scene after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Bystanders who were in the mall at the time of the shooting embrace after evacuating to the parking lot at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The OklahomanBystanders who had family members in the mall at the time of the shooting speak to a police officer at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The OklahomanPeople walk through the parking lot on the south side of Penn Square Mall after a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Bystanders who were in the mall at the time of the shooting embrace after evacuating to the parking lot at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The OklahomanLaw enforcement works the scene after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Sena Franklin waits for news from her sons girlfriend who was hiding inside the mall after the shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The OklahomanSena Franklin shows text messages from her sons girlfriend who was hiding inside the mall after the shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma December 19, 2019. Nick Oxford, for The OklahomanPeople leave the south side of Penn Square Mall after being evacuated following a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Law enforcement works the scene after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People leave the south side of Penn Square Mall after being evacuated following a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People cross Northwest Expressway after a shooting inside Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
Santa Claus waits near a police car after being evacuated from Penn Square Mall following a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
First responders work the scene after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
The south side of Penn Square Mall after a shooting inside the mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
First responders work the scene after a shooting at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]
People cross Northwest Expressway after a shooting inside Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]

Tim Willert

Tim Willert is a native Californian with Oklahoma ties who covers K-12 education, including Oklahoma City Public Schools and the state Education Department. Before that he covered district, federal and appellate courts in Oklahoma County. Prior...
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David Dishman

Business Writer David Dishman has worked as a journalist in Oklahoma since 2014 covering business, education, local government, healthcare and more. He worked as a reporter in southeast Oklahoma before joining the business team at The Oklahoman in...
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